Mu and epsilon near zero metamaterials for perfect coherence and new antenna designs

Wave interference is a fundamental physical phenomenon. Traditionally, the coherent effect of two identical point sources only takes place when the optical path is an integer number of wavelengths. In this paper, we show that mu and epsilon near zero (MENZ) metamaterials can be used to realize a perfectly constructive and isotropic interference. No matter how many point sources are embedded in the MENZ region, the wavefronts overlap perfectly. This translates into a total relaxation of the conventional condition for coherence enabled by the apparent infinite wavelength of the fields within MENZ metamaterials. Furthermore, we investigate crucial parameters such as the shape and size of the MENZ region. We demonstrate that flat sided geometries give rise to constructive interference beams serving as a powerful design mean. We also reveal the importance of relying on deeply sub-wavelength MENZ volumes as larger sizes increase the impedance and therefore reduce the output power of the device. The proposed concepts bear significance for current trends in antenna design which are inspired by the recent developments of electromagnetic metamaterials. Moreover, the perfect coherence effect can be appealing for power combiners, especially in the terahertz where sources are dim, as the irradiation intensity scales with the square of the number of embedded sources. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America